Upside Down
by Scifisurfer
Summary: Lauren is missing and hunted by the Fae. Bo has discovered disturbing information about their relationship. Angry and hurt, necessity makes her find the missing doctor. She wants a cure for her heartache and Lauren discovers science may have misled her.
1. Chapter 1

Upside down

Lost Girl and the characters belong to Prodigy Pictures, no money made, no infringement intended

**Toying with the idea of Bo's relationships being turned upside down. I'm guessing another season of Lauren misery so I wanted to look at their relationship in a slightly different way. In two minds whether to continue or not. I have another chapter written, let me know what you think.**

X

Bo looked at the shimmering light surrounding a faceless figure. Tamsin was unconscious, Dyson had been beamed out of wherever the hell they were and she had been given a version of her life she didn't like very much.

"So this one," the disembodied voice was derisive and Tamsin flinched and her body bucked as if she'd been kicked viscously, "is a disappointment and you are still too young to be of any use. The Blood King's treacherous plan failed when the midwife lost you to humans and you're too naïve to see and believe how everyone around you is using you for their own purposes."

"I'll still take my chances in my world rather than sit here and be your pawn," she retaliated, her eyes sapphire blue.

"You have an untrained power that would be delicious to refine but you need to see with new eyes before you are any use to me. Take that with you," the voice boomed and the next minute Bo found herself outside Taft's facility and looking at a bedraggled Tamsin.

"Shit! Back here," the Valkyrie mourned.

"Apparently you didn't come up to scratch as Daddy's evil doer."

"He didn't keep you either," Tamsin responded without much fire.

"Yeah, we both got a 'must do better,' on term report." Bo stood up and dusted herself off. "I thought there was something funny about your Chi."

"Something funny about Frankenbitch as well according to dear old Dad," Tamsin snarked, "must be great to be played by the one you get all doe eyed over. I knew there was something fishy about her."

"Shut-the-hell-up! We need transport unless you want to walk back to the city."

"I think something's broken." Tamsin sat up holding her ribs.

A car appeared in the distance. "Ham it up; I'll see if I can get us a ride."

"Can't you Succubus from a distance? You really have shit powers."

"Maybe you can doubt them into crashing," Bo suggested acidly. Changing her expression to distress and her posture to helpless and needy, she waved frantically at the car.

"Is this a charade? I'm guessing you're channelling Dr Lewis. Oh but no, that's all an act and you've been running around like a love-sick, wet lettuce."

"Just because you were sent back with me, doesn't mean I have to keep you," Bo gritted, trying to hold on to her better instincts to protect and help the weak. Any talk of Lauren was like poking a running sore. Tamsin was hair's breadth from being left by the roadside.

"I'm your sister. Kenzi will be pissed if she hasn't been executed by the Morrigan. She sure hates to share."

"Kenzi has nothing to fear," Bo hissed and then smiled gratefully as the car stopped and she ran to the open window giving the human version of their plight.

X

"Lauren Lewis," the blonde sat in her pent house suite looking over the city, "I liked that name." She contemplated the opulence of her surroundings. She had several very healthy bank accounts, some from her various 'breakthrough' research projects and others from money she had siphoned off from the Ash's pharmaceutical company. Weirdly the Fae hadn't been at all bothered about her claiming patents or the enormous amount of formaldehyde not accounted for.

She watched the comings and goings of humans in the elevator. She had it rigged with gas canisters, some with sedative effect, others toxic to Fae and her very own Fae sensors which were a labour of love when working for the Light She had planned for the day when Nadia was cured, planned their escape. So Fae detection had been part of her to do list. It even told her what kind of Fae was present. They could mess with her at their peril but she doubted any attack would come to her door. Even their best scent hounds couldn't track her here. She was more vulnerable when she was outside.

She had enough supplies to last her a month and had everything she needed in her lab. The only solution to her predicament of being Fae Public Enemy No 1 seemed to be to adapt to Fae DNA. The downside to that was if she got the mix wrong she might end up sniffing Dyson's butt, wolves tended to have hierarchical clan structures and Alphas ruled. Smart wolves didn't get to be top of the tree.

Her thoughts turned to Bo. The side effect of the pheromone boost she had chemically induced to attract the Succubus had fired up her libido to the point where it seemed constantly on overdrive. She comforted herself that the effect would subside now she'd cut the dose but she couldn't help thinking about the Succubus and wondering how she'd fared in the aftermath of Taft's demise and the turmoil he'd incited in the Fae.

"The Fae killed Nadia," she reminded herself. She tried to bundle Bo in with the Fae because that made it easier to withdraw from the feelings the Succubus induced. "You were going to have these feelings around a Succubus," she reminded herself with clinical candour, "it's natural for humans to translate that into deeper feelings when really she was doing the same thing to you that you were doing to her." Those feelings had delayed her departure from the Fae world and Nadia had borne the consequences. Slamming up a wall against the turmoil those thoughts caused, she contemplated her future.

Lauren was her middle name, she decided to keep it. Lewis would have to go. She felt a pang and tried to veer away from the thought that Bo wouldn't call her Doctor Lewis anymore with that sexy drawl. "Forget the damn Succubus!" she remonstrated with herself. "Fae! Fae! Double Fae! She never wanted the real you! Never loved you! She's just a Chi hoover and fantastic in bed." Her overactive libido mourned for that. "It's not as if you didn't cut her loose," she reminded herself. "At least now she won't look for you." She should feel proud of that. "What's with the doom and gloom? You've got work to do! Go pick a Fae already. Wolf strength would be cool," she pushed her thoughts back to Fae DNA. "Identify the genes for that, pity Taft didn't have a Mesmer." Lascivious thoughts returned to Bo. "Stop it!" She got up and walked about in agitation. "Repeat after me. It's only chemical. You can get through this. Bo is a Succubus. You don't love her and you never did!"

X

Dust motes hung lazily in the beams of light coming through the boarded up windows of the Crack Shack. Two figures studiously ignored each other, one nonchalantly flicking through a magazine, the other watching porn with the sound turned down. The door opening brought them both to full alert.

"Thank the Goddess, you're back." Shooting to her feet, the small Goth girl moved towards the new arrival. Kenzi was getting stir crazy with only the Mesmer for company. "How did it go? What's that you've brought with you, a souvenir?"

"Kinda." Bo carried Tamsin to the couch. "Are you okay?"

"Well apart from being under house arrest and that's only because the Morrigan's worried you'll come back with all kind of new apps from your Dad."

Bo gave a flat smile. "Just that one." She jerked her head at Tamsin.

"Looks like she might need a doctor," Kenzi mused, flashing a quick sorry look at Bo. Any mention of doctors put Bo into a mopey mood. "I mean a Fae doctor. Did she land on her head, she looks out of it."

"Daddy gave her an invisible kick to the ribs." She glanced at Vex. "Any of the Dark willing to help her out?"

Vex put up his hands. "My position is very perilous and the Morrigan might actually hate her more than you … and me," he added for good measure. "Why don't we find your girlfriend before the Morrigan's hired help catch up with her? Then we can patch up the Valkyrie, if you think it's necessary and get Doc Lauren back to fix up booboos."

Bo's eyes flashed to blue.

"Is that anger or hunger, Succubus?" Vex asked carefully.

Kenzi came and took Bo's arm pulling her away from the other two. "The Morrigan put a hit on all humans in Fae hands, that's been downgraded by the Council to house arrest because some of the bigwig families were against it. Lauren's death warrant stands. She's been officially put on the most wanted list with a bounty on her head."

Bo visibly sagged. Taking a deep breath she considered what she had been shown by her father. "My Dad, Sauron, she felt Kenzi's puzzled look, "he's got a lot of names, let's stick with that. He showed me Lauren cooking up a potion to make me get the hots for her. I guess when she met me and I revealed my nature, she thought, 'Ooh good, a baby Fae everyone is scared of, I'll have a piece of that action! Bottom line, nothing was real, she played me." Bo's eyes were stormy with emotion with intermittent lightning flashes of blue. "So, if I do find her, I can promise it won't be pretty."

Kenzi looked stricken. "You'd let them kill her? I mean what did Lauren actually get out of it other than you looking out for her and most of the time, she was fixing us up."

Shifting uncomfortably, Bo shook her head. "I don't know. I went and saved Nadia for her but then she didn't know that … Kinda put a crimp on telling her after I killed her girlfriend. Maybe she was waiting for the payoff and then left when it was slow in coming. She made me feel like this and then left me, Kenzi!" Bo's eyes were a drama of pain.

Kenzi frowned, cuddling Bo and rubbing her arm comfortingly. "So it was a love potion of some kind? She put a spell on you?"

"No," Bo didn't like talking about it but she only wanted to explain once. "She jacked up the pheromone attractant, I wonder what the fuzzy stuff was, it didn't look right."

"There was fuzzy stuff?" Kenzi was intrigued. "So now she's gone that can't be working, can it? In fact, how did it work when you weren't with her?"

Bo looked miserable. "I don't know. I don't know what she's done to me but it should be fading and it isn't."

"Soooo, shame to interrupt the Agony Aunt moment but what are we going to do with this one." Vex tested the Valkyrie's forehead. "Feels a bit hot to me and not in a good way."

Bo ran her fingers through her hair, looking unsure.

"What about Trick?" Kenzi suggested then subsided, "if we knew where he was."

"I'm sure Dyson could find him," Bo hissed. "That's another story." Dyson, had been promised her hand as a reward for service to the Blood King. Apparently that deal was struck when she was ripped from her cradle. She recounted the details to Kenzi. "Those two are going to get a piece of my mind and in Dyson's case a piece of my fist."

"Whoa," Kenzi could imagine what Bo thought of that. "What did Daddy say about me? He might be telling lies," she added hastily.

"He said you were wanted by a Russian mafia boss and you were sticking with me for protection."

Kenzi winced. "Toughest kid in the playground. I never lied, I was only non-specific about why that was important."

Bo gave a weighty sigh. "I'd guessed it was something heavy. All the people I trusted, all with ulterior motives. I thought I had a family, one of love rather than blood and what do I find? I'm part of the Dark Adams family and everyone I love has been lying to me."

Distressed, Kenzi punched her arm. "I really love you and if Dyson and Lauren don't, they've fooled me too. Maybe Sauron has exaggerated it all, I mean Trick's your Gramps and he's helped us, I don't think it's all bad, Bo."

"I'm not getting sucked in again." Bo was militant. She nodded at Tamsin. "She's got powers, if she heals, she heals. If not, so be it."

Looking upset Kenzi got in her way when she would have passed. "That's not like you, Bo. We're not really going to let someone die if we can help them, are we? Even if it is Tamsin."

Moodily, Bo met her gaze. "Why not? No-one else in this screwed up world gives a fuck, so why should I?"

Kenzi exchanged a look with Vex as Bo went to the bar and picked up a bottle. "I care, Bo," she affirmed in a brave voice.

"Yeah, me too," Vex soothed. "We're glad you're back. How else are we going to get out of the house?"

"Vex!" Kenzi yelled.

Irritable, Bo was not her usual self. Her usual self would be rushing around helping everyone. "Oh, stop whining. You're alive, aren't you? Lauren will wish she wasn't when they catch up with her." Taking a deep swallow from the bottle, Bo tried very hard not to care about that.

X

Bo soaked up the last drops of tequila. "I mean why should I help her?" she slurred. "… nothing to me."

"I thought she was your sister." Kenzi placed an ice pack on Tamsin's head.

"Not her! She's a frickin Valkyrie. She'll mend. They're always … in battles … fighting," she spoke with the deliberation of the brain addled.

"No probs then," Kenzi sounded doubtful. "I bet I could fry and egg on her head."

"That's where egg head comes from," Bo snickered, "Valkyries with a temperature."

Kenzi rolled her eyes.

"No, … means nothing. I can get by. It's good really …cos now I can get it on with everybody. No feelings … no conscience, just lovely, sparkly Chi."

"Well, if you're hungry, Succubus," Vex offered, "I've seen that bullwhip so I know you can be naughty …"

Kenzi poked fingers down her throat and Bo's lip turned up.

"Almost everybody," Bo slurred.

"Come on we both like leather, a bit of a slap and tickle between friends, where's the harm?"

Bo giggled, laid on the floor, one knee up and the other leg flat, she narrowed her eyes as the light hit the cobwebs on the ceiling. "She would be up there with crampons and a feather duster."

"Is that a new kink?" Vex sounded puzzled.

"Lauren," Kenzi mouthed.

"Bloody hell," Vex muttered. "Pardon me for wanting to party, a long overdue party by the way; I've put myself on the line for you people."

"And here's your reward," cooed Kenzi, slapping him in the face with a pillow.

"See, there's always a silver lining," Bo mused, pointing the bottle at the ceiling. "Lucky, lucky, lucky spiders."


	2. Chapter 2

Upside Down – 2

The characters belong to Lost Girl Prodigy pictures, no money made, no infringement intended

X

"Eye of newt and toe of frog," Lauren murmured whimsically. "Why does that make me want pizza?"

The blonde's mind flew back to hanging out at Bo's. She picked up her dictaphone. "Note to self. Pheromone booster seems to promote feelings of attachment, craving for subject of chemically induced desire. Generalization has not taken place. Switching off the recording device she looked thoughtful. "Come on, Doctor, you spent a lot of time with her. Liking the woman and the pheromone high combined with your current state of isolation, it's not too mind boggling that you would miss her." Looking through her microscope, she suddenly grinned. "Telescopes," she murmured. "Idiot." Affection warmed her tone and she shrugged when she noted it.

"Invisibility would be good," she considered her Fae options. "UnderFae, Fae and UberFae," she mused. "I'll be a scary, bad assed UberFae." Her face sobered. "That's a point, maybe not too many badassed features, need to balance with a little poetry for the soul. What else have you got, Taft?" She concentrated for a moment. "I should really stop talking to myself," she deliberated not taking her eyes off her work.

X

Kenzi ripped the covers off Bo's bed.

Bo sat up and stared at the small whirlwind throwing her clothes onto the bed. "What! What's happened! What are you doing?"

"Vex," she ground out, "Vex has got some good drugs to help out with the dying Valkyrie on our couch. Flying pigs are circling the Crack Shack, a snowball is rolling around in pristine glory in hell, we're not letting Vex out-good us."

"Oh," Bo landed back flat against the matress, "is she no better then?"

"If you hadn't downed our last bottle of tequila you would have heard her whimpering." Grabbing Bo's ankles, she started to pull her to the end of the bed.

"Hey!"

"Well, get the hell up! This isn't you! You might as well have stayed with Dad if you're going to ignore friends who need your help!"

"Friends," Bo gurgled with sardonic laughter. "Yeah, sure."

"You can still save Tamsin. The Dark tore Lauren limb from limb last night, so you're not needed on that account."

Bo shot up, eyes flashed blue and something like a sonic boom shook the walls.

Kenzi disappeared under the bed as plaster cascaded from the ceiling. "See, you do care so stop pretending you don't! She's still alive as far as I know and we have to find her so that you can get a doctor who will do more to help than hinder the Valkyrie. Have a hair pulling, all holds barred, screaming match but …" She broke of scooting away. "Bo!"

Avoiding the sweeping arm that tried to catch her, Kenzi played cat and mouse to a stream of abuse until she had a clear path to the door.

Vex got up from the floor as Kenzi half fell down the stairs followed by the contents of Bo's dresser.

"Morning girls," he chimed and blew dust off a box of cereal.

X

Dyson was looking aggrieved nursing a swollen jaw and gave Bo a sour look when she demanded his help. "I've never taken anything for granted, Bo, I'm a warrior reduced to a bloodhound for the Light. Trick made certain promises but there's no compulsion for you to do anything. My feelings are not a lie."

That made Bo wince. "Well, talking about someone whose feelings most definitely are, where do I look for Lauren?"

He gave her a long look. "If you have any remaining regard for her then I suggest you don't. Any bounty hunter with a brain will see you as a likely link to the Doctor."

"Can you get me someone else then, to treat Tamsin?"

Regret touched his gaze. "Until the Light take back control of their clan from the Morrigan, no-one is likely to stick their neck out to help the Valkyrie. Even then …" he shrugged meaningfully.

Groaning, Bo felt as if she was going round in circles. "Okay. What would you do if you wanted to find her? Could you track her scent?"

"Judging from your stint in Hecuba prison, my guess is that Lauren would disguise her scent. She knows how Fae hunt humans."

Bo could imagine what Lauren had seen during her time with the Fae and the fears she must have from the autopsies she had performed. Thinking of Lauren on the run and on her own initiated a rising feeling of panic.

"So, what else have they got? That guy The Eye, what about him?"

"Apparently he received a surprise windfall and no-one has seen him since. There's a rumour that Dr Lewis …"

"That's not her name." She needed to hold onto the doctor's cheating ways to stop herself clucking like a hen with a lost chick.

"… Lauren treated him for a cartaract. He was very grateful. I've heard speculation he vanished so that he couldn't be used against her."

"She paid him off, how resourceful," Bo grated. Kenzi was going to like this Lauren much better than her earlier incarnation. "Is it likely she's left the country, her passport's gone?"

"Risky. The airports would be monitored; the Death Warrant is not local to this county."

"What then?" her frustration was evident. "Are you saying she can't be found?"'

"Maybe she will find you."

"Highly unlikely," Bo's tone was bitter.

"You could consult a seer. If you have something of hers that is personal a seer could draw from."

"Wouldn't there be a queue. The Morrigan's goons must be having the same problem I imagine multiple lab coats are being presented to every seer in the County."

"Then take a non-Fae option." He handed her a sheaf of invoices. "Follow the money."

X

"My peeps are on it," crowed Kenzi.

"I thought you were on the run."

"Moi? That's old news. Vlad the Impaler got impaled by someone else. Maybe there's still a family grudge but as long as I'm not in their faces it's all copasetic."

Bo gave her a moody look. "You stayed."

"Of course. It's what I'm saying, okay the Wolf and the Doc may not be quite who you thought they were but that doesn't mean they're all bad either. Sauron is playing with your head."

Bo couldn't afford to think like that. Okay, Kenzi was still Kenzi and Dyson was still Dyson even if he had been suckered into doing Trick's bidding and not got his fairytale ending. Lauren, on the other hand, wasn't even Lauren and to think how she had fallen for every story the blonde told her even with the added extra of Nadia. Hot mortification steamed through her body. Lauren was a super brain and she thought she'd got her figured out. God knows what the real truth was!

She went over to look at Tamsin. "Hey, how are you doing?"

"Hurts to breathe," she whispered, "not time for a … girl to girl chat."

"Hang in there. We're going to get help. You're looking a bit better," she lied.

One bloodshot eyeball appeared, Tamsin didn't seem to have the strength to open two eyes.

"Okay, my bad. You look like shit."

"Thank you." She drifted off to sleep again.

X

"Harriet Winters. English recluse living in the pent house suite at the Winters apartment block."

"Harriet?"

"H L Winters. Maybe Lauren's her second name. Yep, yep that's it. Harriet Lauren Winters."

"How the hell did she buy an apartment block?"

"Transaction tracks back eight years. Rents out the block, must be worth millions. And we're her friends!" Kenzi rubbed her hands together.

"Clearly you've forgotten the bit where she ditched me and is now running from the Morrigan's assasins," Bo's tone was acidic.

"Details." Kenzi was already drawing up a contract for Lauren's protection. Maybe a swanky apartment in Lauren's block could be part of the deal. "How are we going to play this? I could go up as pizza delivery."

"The Morrigan's thugs are probably tailing us. I have a better idea. Meanwhile, let's move Tamsin to the Dal. Apparently Gramps is back and he owes me a lifetime of favours."

X

Lauren woke up on the floor. She looked at her hands and then scrambled to her feet and peered into the mirror. "Thank God that wasn't permanent," she panted. "Now to try out the other thing."

Her progress was halted by the door signal. Immediately on the alert, she realised someone must have come up in the elevator. Moving to her surveillance panel, she relaxed a little when she noted human. Some Fed-ex guy.

"What do you want?" she spoke through the intercom.

"I have a delivery."

"Thank you. You can leave it."

He did as asked and after muttering something about a creepy, mad woman he descended in the elevator.

Using remote scanners she discerned the package as non-explosive.

X

Bo flipped open her cell. Walking about she waited impatiently for an answer.

"Hello."

"Lauren," Bo ground out the name, "or Harriet, what do you prefer?"

Well this was a turn up for the books. Lauren looked at the empty package that had contained the cell and saw nothing more to concern her. "Nice of you to call," she tried for nonchalance; her heart was beating like a trip hammer.

"Missed you, babe," Bo's sarcasm didn't lose impact over the ether. "A cab will arrive in ten minutes. I want you to get in it."

Lauren stiffened. "How did you find me?"

"That would be telling. Before anyone else does, I suggest you make your way to me. I have a job for you that includes protection. If you don't get in the cab, I'll tell the Morrigan where you are. Spurned lovers can be quite cruel and I have a huge spurn on."

"Very well." The connection was cut. Lauren weighed up her options. Go to an angry Succubus or go out on the streets and risk sudden and unpleasant death. The skin on her hands goose pimpled and she took a steadying breath. The sensation faded slowly. "Possibly a form of meditation might be useful with initial control over transformation." If Bo wanted her for something, the Succubus intended to keep her alive until that something had been completed. She needed time to grow into her powers and if Bo had found her others would too.

Initiating lockdown on her apartment for the prescribed time, she started packing a few things. Grabbing a medical bag, she prepared to descend to the ground floor to rendezvous with the cab.

X

The cab came. The driver was human. Lauren relaxed a little when there was no subterfuge. She didn't know how upset Bo was. She'd been sarcastic when she called which meant she had moved on from the hurt, confusion that had marked their last couple of encounters. Maybe she should have taken another shot of the pheromone booster, wanting sex tended to mellow Bo's attitude towards her. Remembering the days after what Kenzi so charmingly called a 'spybang,' Bo had been furious with her but she had come around eventually. The constant bombardment of pheromones had weakened her resolve.

The decision not to use the booster was pragmatic. One, she felt it might fuel Bo's anger towards her and secondly, she was getting excited at the thought of being near the Succubus again and she really needed to control that. She had got into the cab as meek as a lamb when she should really be running in the opposite direction.

The cab stopped outside a small house with an unkempt garden.

"This is the address," the driver told her. "Fare's paid up until here."

Looking around, there was no immediate threat. Lauren got out and approached the door.

She heard disturbance in the air behind her and she turned around with a hard gulp, her eyes widening before something whistled past her ear and she was pulled forward. A heavy thump against the wall of the house shook the building.

"I had it covered, Succubus. That's going to make a mess. We'll have to clear it up."

"Put a tarpaulin over it and call Dyson," Bo's voice was edgy.

Lauren recoiled from the impact of hitting Bo's body as the force of the yank on her clothes brought her into collision. Looking around in horror at the winged creature with a bolt in it's eye and bent beak, she realised she'd got the best of the deal.

Bo left Vex to make the arrangements and grabbing Lauren's arm she pulled her over to the fireplace, did something to the ornamental carving surround and a dimly lit tunnel was revealed.

"Where are we going?" she found her voice. "And thanks … That was …"

"It's not in my interest to let you die, Lauren," Bo's tone was clipped, "sorry, Harriet."

"I prefer Lauren. Harriet is sort of a family name and reminds me of my aunt. I've used Lauren a lot ..." She trailed off at Bo's poisonous look.

"What? Are you some godamm spy or something? Who goes around changing their name all the time?"

"I thought you'd understand that. You were called Beth, weren't you, by your adoptive parents. I'm pretty sure Kenzi isn't Kenzi's real name, it's probably something Russian."

"I discovered my real name and Kenzi was wanted by some Russian gang boss. What's your excuse?"

Lauren looked impressed. "Really? I thought she probably had a rap sheet as long as her arm. A gang boss …?"

"I'm sure she'd be pleased to go up in your esteem. At least she was suspicious of you, I trusted you. You must have thought I was some frickin idiot swallowing all your little lies."

Lauren stumbled over the uneven surface and Bo caught her, thrusting her away as their eyes collided and the familiar buzz of attraction reared up without warning.

"I want an antidote to whatever this is," Bo demanded. "I realise you've been experimenting on me… Some chemical you've been using."

"I was using the chemical on me, not you. Well, not directly. Normally, I wouldn't dream of manufacturing a pheromone enhancer but I worked out pretty quickly that Nadia was not suffering from a human malady. I knew we were both trapped and my life was worth next to nothing. I tried to help you to make up for what I was doing but I was in a bad way and I needed so badly to have some vestige of hope to keep going."

Bo felt an upsurge of sympathy at Lauren's earnest explanation.

"And I did like you. Spending time with you was such a relief after years of servitude …"

"Don't push it," Bo growled, feeling herself being drawn in again. "God, you think I'm so easy, don't you!"

"It should have worn off," Lauren referred back to the pheromone effects, "I haven't used the shots for several weeks."

Bo gave her a long look as they continued to walk. "You're still lit up like a Christmas tree but the fuzzy stuff has gone."

Frowning, Lauren looked puzzled. "Fuzzy stuff? What exactly do you mean? My aura should have been boosted nothing else."

Bo's eyes darkened. "You couldn't have had all this ready the first time we met. Your aura hasn't changed, what was odd was this kind of swirl of colour like an oil stain on the road.

"You never said anything," Lauren replied, considering the implications of Bo's observation.

"It's a bit personal telling someone they've got freaky stuff going on. I thought it might be something to do with your gigantic brain," Bo's mockery showed elements of hurt. "It was kinda cute. I just thought you were probably an evolutionary step up or something."

"So you're not responding to the false aura," Lauren said in a quiet voice. "This antidote for how you feel. Is that why I'm here?"

"No," Bo gave her a curious look, "Tamsin's injured. She doesn't seem to have kept up her medical insurance. Since you'll probably fix her up super quick, it can't hurt to work on my problem as well. I'd hate all that grey matter to go to waste."

Tamsin! Lauren gritted her teeth. She didn't like Tamsin. Strutting about like she owned the place the minute she arrived, typical Fae arrogance. "Is it bad?" She tried very hard to remember she was a physician.

"I think a rib might have punctured her lung or at least be enough of a problem to cause a lot of pain. Vex got her some strong pain killers off the streets but it didn't help the breathing."

"No," Lauren contemplated that, "it wouldn't. Most opioids can depress breathing. How long has she been like that?"

"Since last night. Did we do the wrong thing?"

Lauren inclined her head in a considering manner. "If you didn't kill her, it probably helped. Valkyries are strong, I'm sure she'll survive."

Bo felt the niggling anxiety about Tamsin fade. Lauren would fix her up, she had utter confidence in that. She just wished that she could stop hurting, that Lauren could fix that too. She guessed from Lauren's questions, that something was wrong with regard to the pheromone enhancer. It must be because just being near the blonde was making her ache with longing.

"You have to fix this!" she was adamant. "It's all still going on and I feel like crap!"

"Yes … err, it might take a little time. Don't you feel better with Dyson or Tamsin? I've never been your only source of emotional succour." That didn't come out sounding very clinical, Lauren's inner scientist pointed out.

"Dyson's a dick and Tamsin's my sister."

Lauren almost tripped over her feet at that disclosure. Well, not the one about Dyson, he was on the outs for some reason but Tamsin came as a bit of a shock.

"Your sister? Your sister's a Valkyrie?"

"Half sister, same Mister," Bo offered dryly.

Distracted, Lauren let Bo lead her along, hand curved around her upper arm. "That's an interesting mix. It explains some of the things you say when you're …"

"Possessed?"

"Tapping your latent powers," Lauren amended, knowing Bo was sensitive about her origins.

"How diplomatic. I suppose you're so used to schmoozing around me, it's got to be habitual."

Lauren felt Bo's disappointment as a living thing between them. For a sex machine Bo was still wet behind the ears in the emotional department but her pain made something inside Lauren echo in misery.

"I'm sorry, Bo," she spoke quietly.

"You will be if you don't cure me. My Succubus wants to suck you dry. So if you don't want to die with a joker grin, you'll work really hard on putting this right. I don't want to go around thinking the love of my life has just kicked me in the gut. At least I don't have to feel guilty and inadequate for not meeting your needs. I was never meant to, so I got an A+ on that score."

Bo's bitterness permeated the air. The Succubus' hope for a cure may be beyond Lauren's powers because if the fuzzy stuff was Lauren's pheromone enhancer failing to mimic a boosted aura, then Bo's cure was time and distance from the object of her desires. Ironically enough, Lauren toyed with the idea of her own Catch 22 position. If her response to Bo wasn't a result of the enhancer then the raging lust the sight of Bo produced wasn't going anywhere either. Clearly it was not the time to tell Bo her A+ was under review and she might not have scored as highly as she thought.

X

**There, that's all so far, if you're not keen readers, I'll just write it for myself. No worries.**


	3. Chapter 3

Upside Down –3

The characters belong to Lost Girl Prodigy pictures, no money made, no infringement intended

X

Trick had gathered together as much medical equipment as he could. Lauren had treated members of Bo's team at the Dal before so they had enough for wear and tear, he wasn't sure the surgical instruments would come up to scratch.

Kenzi helped him wheel the drip into place. She remembered when Lauren had used it to help her recover from infection. "That powder you blew up Tamsin's nose seems to have helped a little. Do you think the Doc can save her?"

"She's a skilled physician." Trick unwrapped an array of instruments that looked like they came out of a museum.

"Should I boil hot water?"

"Sterilization couldn't hurt," the older man agreed looking at the array of metal dubiously.

The Troll roared and a rumble was heard from far down the tunnels. Kenzi looked apprehensive. "I thought you said we'd be safe here."

"The Morrigan has to make a show of action. She won't risk anyone of any value. If Lauren saves Tamsin, we then have the problem of her future. Many Fae believe Lauren betrayed them to Taft."

Kenzi considered this. "Bo's pretty mad at her but I don't think she'd let anyone hurt her. Luckily for us all, Bo heart is bigger than her grudges." The Goth felt that they were in one of those family fights where everyone said bad things when shit-faced and tried to pretend it hadn't happened.

Trick looked uncomfortable. "Sometimes the larger picture dictates actions that are convenient rather than desirable. Bo ignores politics but she can't always escape the power relations that exist within the Fae."

"She wasn't skipping up the aisle to 'Here comes the bride,' when she found out about your arrangement with Dyson. How can you marry off a baby?"

"Family arrangements still exist in the human world in certain cultures. Dyson has been a loyal champion. You, yourself, saw the suitability of the match."

Kenzi rolled her eyes. "You gave the Wolf false expectations and now he's stuck pining for something he can't have. That's mean , Trickster."

Trick made an appeasing gesture with his hands but was interrupted from explaining further by Bo's arrival with Lauren trailing behind her.

The blonde looked around apprehensively. Bo had hostility written large but was containing it.

"Oh, lookee, Harriet Winters, Miss Megabucks." Kenzi sized her up. "So, ripping off Ash pharmaceuticals?" She half dropped and eyelid and tapped her nose. "Nice one, Doc."

Lauren felt awkward. It wasn't usual to come face to face with her accusers after she'd moved on. Life hadn't been very kind to her, Bo was right about that, she had stopped trying to justify herself a long time ago. People believed what they wanted to believe. On the score of extorting money from the Light, the unforgivable fate of Nadia and on a lesser note she hadn't been paid for six years and had been treated as chattel. Money in the bank could never make up for that.

Spying Tamsin, she moved towards the gurney and methodically checked her vitals. Checking the Valkyrie's ribcage, she nodded at Bo. "Pneumothorax, no external wound but as you guessed a punctured lung from the rib fracture. There'll be tissue damage and internal bleeding. Vex could be useful, my use of aesthetic will be limited."

Bo watched as Lauren took command of the situation. Vex caught up with them and he used his powers under Lauren's direction to move bone and tissue without the use of a scalpel.

The Succubus winced as she witnessed the procedure, Kenzi was in the shadows keeping well away from the action. Was it her imagination or was Tamsin breathing easier? Their supply of oxygen was being used sparingly. She could believe Lauren had worked in a war front at a field hospital. She gave short, clipped instructions, occasionally questioning Trick's resources for something she didn't have, all the time focussing on her patient. Admiration at the quiet, authorative competence welled up inside her and Bo sighed inwardly.

How could these feelings of awe, enjoyment of Lauren's reserved humour and impish grin be chemical? She had spent nights satiating her hunger for Chi elsewhere and still returned to Lauren's bed just to hold her for a few hours. What had that to do with pheromones, pheromones, she suspected, Lauren had some questions about. She had always got a kick out of watching Lauren work, sometimes she wished she didn't work so much. That might be down to lust bunnies but regardless of that, when she'd first met Lauren she had snuck into her lab on more than one occasion and just watched until Lauren noticed her. She tried to remember when the oil stain effect began. It certainly wasn't there to begin with.

After several hours working on her patient, Lauren stood back. "The lung has reinflated, internal bleeding has stopped, Fae healing powers should do the rest. I believe she's out of danger but not discomfort." Stripping off gloves she put them into a disposal bag Trick held out for her. "If you have something herbal, Trick, it would be useful to help her rest."

The older man nodded and bustled off to carry out her instructions.

Kenzi brought up a bowl for Lauren and put it down on a rocky outcrop so that she could wash her hands. "Great work, Doc, not a safer or steadier pair of hands in the business."

Bo gave the Goth a curious look. She got back a mimic for giant head and rubbing fingers for loads of money. It seemed the Ash's slave, selflessly helping people, didn't get half the kudos from the thief that Harriet Winters with multiple offshore bank accounts did.

She looked at them, kindly Gramps, lovable street urchin, tragic doctor and Vex. Out of the four, Vex was the only one who hadn't been tarnished in her estimation. Vex had always been tarnished so he fitted right in.

"Surgeon's hands," Vex applauded his new skill. "Hands of a healer. Blimey, that better go no further, I have a reputation to think about."

"Killer's hands used by a healer," Kenzi amended and he tilted his head, considering this.

"Fair enough. What's to eat? We've been down in these manky caves for hours."

X

"Any more rat stew?" Kenzi held out her bowl.

Bo looked at the smoke winding up into the dark ceiling of the cave. The light from the fire and lanterns didn't penetrate for more than about twenty feet above them.

"The cave has a natural chimney," Lauren commented. "You can see the way the smoke angles slilghtly in its trajectory that it's been drawn upwards and sideways probably down another tunnel system. Clever really, it doesn't gave away our whereabouts to anyone topside."

Bo put her bowl down. She'd barely touched her food and Lauren glanced at it.

"You should really keep your strength up. I've noticed you've lost weight. You're still flesh, Bo, despite your higher powers. Chi can't sustain you alone in the physical plane."

"You're patient is over there," Bo pointed out coldly. She didn't want Lauren's manufactured concern. It was all too easy to fall back into the old camaraderie. Despite her hurt at the scientist's rejection, she had sat next to her beside the fire as if it were her natural place. "Has it occurred to you, Doc that you might be a fraud in more ways than one?"

Blinking nervously, a sure tell she had felt the prick of Bo's verbal dagger, Lauren looked back and waited for more.

"I know you're not telling me something. Your aura's still burning; my feelings are still butt hurt, what do you make of that?"

Lauren's concerns for the needs of her own flesh seemed to diminish as she placed her own bowl next to Bo's.

"I'll … I'll need time to determine whether the pheromone stimulant has been absorbed and temporarily boosted my normal responses. It's possible …."

"You don't want to accept the possibility that you were unfaithful to Nadia the minute I turned up, do you?" Bo sneered. "You'd rather believe you sacrificed yourself to try and get her protection."

Lauren dipped her head and her silky blond hair hid her profile.

"Did it make it easier on your conscience playing with my feelings, thinking it was for her and I'd get over it as soon as the chemical reaction died? Did you actually care about what you were doing to me?"

Several seconds passed. Lauren swallowed the lump in her throat, the suggestion she had betrayed Nadia stung. She had spent years talking to a Perspex bubble for the solace of her own heart and the belief Nadia might be able to hear her. She had tried to maintain the connection to the lifeless figure, at times broken and sobbing appealing to Nadia to give her some sign she was still in that inanimate form.

Bo had turned up in the Fae world, cocky and confident, full of the challenge that only a young, brash Fae innocent of the dangers could have. Having met Tamsin, she could see the familial similarity in their manner only Tamsin was cynical and jaded where Bo's was fresh and in your face. Of course she had an immediate response to the Succubus. It had partly guided her search for species. When something set off all your hormonal triggers, made the hairs on your nape stand up, your heart pound and sex twitch you're looking for a charismatic feeder. That wasn't being unfaithful to Nadia, it was just a physiological response to the kind of Fae she was examining.

The mockery in Bo's gaze trampled over her most cherished beliefs. In her heart she believed she had been true to Nadia. Out of all her compromises, this had remained the core of who she was. She had most definitely not been in love with Bo! The Succubus was trying to make her feel guilty about a betrayal when Bo's wandering eye had constantly been unfaithful to whatever they were supposed to have. She had tried to help Bo to survive in those early days, partly for mutual need but also because she felt the young Succubus had been dumped into the feral, Fae world much the same way she had and felt a kinship with her. It outraged her that Bo would put it down to sexual avarice.

"You despised who you were," she defended her actions. "You thought you were a monster. I helped you, Bo. That made it easier for me, I'll admit, thinking I was giving something back. I'm not going to pretend I didn't use you because I obviously did. Even if the formulae didn't work the way I thought it did, I had no reason to suppose you would have a permanent attachment to me. As I've said, I can't say it ever felt that I had your sole affection or love. In fact, I imagined I was inconvenient on that front and soon you'd turn to either Dyson or Tamsin who may better sustain you."

"Will you stop bringing Tamsin into this! It was like my Mom. There's this instant thing. No-one has taught me how to recognize family!" Bo emoted feeling misunderstood. "And Dyson, I was at death's door, how could you think you weren't important to me!"

Lauren took a sobering breath and became more analytical. It was beginning to sound like a lovers fight, she had to correct that misconception. "I was confirmed in this belief when I could no longer quench your sexual appetite and was your last port of call for sex or companionship. As a Succubus you can't be physically monogamous and there's enough evidence for me to believe you can't be emotionally monogamous either. The best way to get over what you imagine you have with me is to accept who you are and just get on with it." Lauren didn't have long to consider why she had dragged in what sounded like relationship niggles into her logical argument.

Bo's quick indrawn breath suggested Lauren had used her own dagger against her.

"You believe I'm incapable of love!" Bo's eyes glittered in the firelight with the suggestion of tears. The sudden increase in volume drew the attention of the others. "I was trying to keep the whole scary Under Fae away from you!"

"No," Lauren qualified, annoyed she'd responded recklessly and said much more than she meant to. She tried to make it sound more like a rational assessment, "I believe you can love a number of people just not have some romanticized, human ideal."

"You're full of crap," Bo snarled, hoisting herself to her feet and moving to the other side of the fire before she turned. "I'm going to check on the Troll. Expend a bit of hate. That's the only true frickin emotion that makes sense anymore."

All eyes turned in silent accusation to Lauren.

"Way to go, dude!" Kenzi exclaimed.

"Best not to bait the Succubus, love," Vex drawled. "We're all rather dependent on her to get us out of this."

"Bo is very much in love with you, Lauren," Trick reasoned in a careful tone, "she has rejected Dyson's suit to this end."

The turn of events almost made Lauren pinch herself to see if she was dreaming. RepeatedlyTrick had reminded her of her human limitations, now suddenly he was telling her of the strength of Bo's love. She imagined she was supposed to be impressed that Dyson had been cast aside in her favour. Considering she was Bo's girlfriend, she should have been able to take the Wolf being out of the picture as a given. While a somewhat desperate voice in her head was reminding her '_you're not her real girlfriend, Lauren,' _Trick droned on.

"It would be a mistake to underestimate Bo's feelings. She has been placed back here with us for a reason, if her love turns to hate then that may be enough to take her from us entirely."

Lauren's bitter laughter made them all stare. "It's interesting that you all find it necessary for me to be careful with Bo's heart when the last thing any of you ever wanted was for me to possess it. You're a bunch of self-serving hypocrites." Lauren felt she was sloughing years of ingratitude. Wow! That felt good!

Astonished to hear such bile coming from the formerly polite, measured doctor, it took them all time to recover.

Kenzi's smart mouth wasn't inactive for long. "Let's get real here and I'm not talking some Fae reality show with _'you done me wrong healing with the Wolf and drinking my champagne with the_ _Valkyrie,"_ Kenzi's tone blistered. "Maybe you need to reconsider where you're coming from Doc because it seems to me; you're not only lying to '_God rest her soul, Nadia!_' You're lying to yourself! Otherwise instead of taking out your jealousy on Bo you'd realise we're in some shit-nightmare situation with The Morrigan wanting to fry our brains. You've got a death sentence waiting on the wrong side of the Troll! We're all facing being _paraded_ before the Fae and very painful punishments if not executions. Bo's _our and your last best hope_! Think about what the hell you're doing!"

Vex nodded smiling craftily deciding to lead by example. "Forget all your emo crap, pet lamb. Remember the Garuda. Bo's the best, yay," he did a small cheer wave, "what's not to love!"

X

**I may be stepping on the toes of the preconception of Lauren but this Lauren I'd like to see. **


	4. Chapter 4

Upside Down –4

The characters belong to Lost Girl Prodigy pictures, no money made, no infringement intended

X

The sounds from the Troll were augmented by less violent croons of pleasure. Trick lifted his head, his brow creased into a frown.

"Sounds like Bo-bo's powering up," Kenzi 's voice broke the silence amongst the small group.

Lauren lifted her head. Bo certainly was going for gold. Restless, she busied herself checking on Tamsin wondering if Bo had a plan. They may be safe for now in the tunnels but how long could they hide out.

Tamsin lashes frayed open and she focussed groggily on the doctor. "Thought you'd ran off," she muttered, "Bo must be turning cartwheels."

"How comfortable is your breathing on a score of one to ten?" Lauren practiced her detached bedside manner.

"Feels like someone put a hot poker down my throat," the Valkyrie rasped.

"That's not a number. Is it easier than it was?"

"Yeah, gone from a one to a two and a half, that anal enough for you?"

"Would you like some water?"

Tamsin eyed her with caution. "Is Bo here?"

"She's not too far away."

Closing her eyes Tamsin looked like she was going to sleep again. "… explains it. I thought I'd died and been reborn in a brothel," she murmured before drifting off.

X

Lauren was half asleep on a bedroll Trick had provided when Bo came back. Her body reacted as she felt the energy rolling off the woman.

Keeping an eye on her, Lauren watched as Bo took water to the Valkyrie and Tamsin sipped it to ease her dry throat. There appeared to be a bond of trust between the two. She wondered what had cemented that.

Bo let the Valkyrie rest and turned her attention to Trick. "There's a reduced supply of cannon fodder at the Dal exit. It seems The Dark don't have much faith in reaching their pension plan."

Trick mumbled something.

"… mostly broken bones and spaghetti legs. Family grudges are long lasting, I'm not stupid, Trick." She turned away and Lauren half closed her eyes, feigning sleep as she felt the weight of Bo's gaze.

The next thing she knew a noise beside her sounding very much like a bed roll being put down next to hers made her eyes open a bit wider.

"I know you're not asleep," Bo's voice got nearer as she stretched out on the makeshift bed and leant in. "Was I too noisy for you?" she purred into Lauren's ear.

A growl low in Lauren's throat surprised them both.

Bo was up, her posture alert, dagger glinting in the torchlight, scanning the surrounding area.

Lauren sat up, taking a sneaky look at her hands and sweeping her teeth with her tongue to see if anything wolfish had happened. Nope, it seemed just the growl thing.

Looking up, Bo was exhibiting the classic signs of reframing the experience. Her ex-lover had growled, her ex-lover didn't growl, something else must have growled, where was it?

"I think that might have been air rushing through the tunnels above. A sort of convection current caused by the increased warmth from the fire."

"What a cave fart?" Bo relaxed a little. "Maybe the Cave Goddess doesn't like me touching you," she snickered.

Lauren had to admit, it wasn't that sort of growl. Bo's charged up state was doing terrible things to her libido.

Sitting down beside her, Bo gave her a sideways look. "I'm not good with rejection," she admitted hesitantly. "I know you sacrificed a lot for Nadia. I get it. You loved her and I didn't come up to scratch as a girlfriend …" She stared moodily into the fire.

"Bo …"

"I don't believe there was nothing," Bo returned, her dark eyes resentful. "I think about you all the time, even when I've got a sexual smorgasbord in front of me, I think 'let's get this done,' so I can come back to you."

Somewhere deep inside Lauren felt the sadness of that.

"You're in trouble, I can't let them take you," Bo continued. "It would be good if you had something to prove your innocence. Taft's calls go back a way, it looks like you were involved with him while working for the Fae."

"He contacted me about my paper, the one that was published. The one I got a prize for."

Bo accepted that. "The Morrigan will use it," she ruminated, "they had a vial with your name on it that poisoned the Fae bartender."

"If I wanted to poison the Fae or take them out with a virus, I could have done that a long time ago," Lauren offered in a matter of fact tone. "You have to let me go. I can't live in your world, Bo and you can't live in mine."

Shaking her head, Bo looked determined. "You wouldn't last five minutes. You can't spend your life locked up in a pent house." She looked serious. "There's more to this. I kinda get it then it disappears."

Lauren searched her face. "What do you mean?"

"You're important," Bo groped blindly for understanding. "I get angry. I want to hurt you, throw you to the Dark. It howls inside me. That's why I had to do that." She pointed down the corridor.

Swallowing dryly, Lauren guessed that Bo had been taking her anger and hunger out elsewhere.

"After Nadia, you were angry with me. Then you came to me, asking to sleep in my arms. I didn't question it because I was so desperate to be with you again. Did you come to me to ensure your protection? Is that why you came?"

Lauren didn't like to think back to those dark days. Vaguely aware she could wound the Succubus with her reply; she just went with the truth.

"The pain was intense. I'd been torn apart with it for days. Most people have family, friends around at times like that, I had no-one."

"I'm sorry, Lauren, I wanted to come, I just didn't think I'd be welcome, I was pretty shocked at how it all turned out."

"It doesn't matter," Lauren retreated again into her own bitterness.

"It does!" Bo searched her face helplessly. "Was it then that you started to hate me? Did you come to me to destroy my heart?"

"No," Lauren replied simply. "There was no subterfuge. No plan. I just needed a hug."

X

Lauren contemplated how the world turned and everything changed and weirdly stayed the same. Admitting she had needed a hug, Bo had rather brokenly asked to sleep in her arms.

"What?" Lauren had been rather surprised at the request.

"You look, sound and smell like someone I'm missing very badly. You seemed to think it was okay to come to me for comfort."

Bo had a way of resenting, hurting and appealing all at the same time. Looking into her stormy gaze, the firelight creating shadows along her cheekbones and jaw turned Bo's face into a portrait of anguish. Lauren felt that tug again that refused to allow cold rejection.

"Bo, this isn't going to help to …"

"It's what I need right now." Bo's stubbornness was familiar. It was clear she felt entitled to some consideration from her ex-lover.

Sighing, Lauren invited her into her arms and they settled into a position that worked for both of them. Surreptitious looks came from their companions but no-one offered the usual snark or mockery. Trick looked positively approving.

"You said you liked spending time with me," Bo's voice was small and barely reached her ears.

"You were one of the few Fae that didn't treat me like something they'd scrape off their shoe." Lauren looked into the glowing embers of the fire. "After a while I began to feel like a part of the furniture, there but not present … not sentient. It began to come as a shock when someone actually saw me."

"I still see you, Lauren," Bo whispered. "If I stop, I think I'll lose everything."

Lauren considered that. It was quite possible Bo would stop seeing her but not for the reason the Succubus thought.

"The biggest temptation is knowing that I could have you at my whim. I once considered thralling Dyson when he lost his love."

For some reason Lauren didn't point out that Bo could have Dyson at her whim by crooking her finger, she didn't need her Succubus skills. Mulling over that, she wondered how long it would take the wolf to follow them into the tunnels. Dyson could really put a crimp in her plans for escape.

"You like me and you find me very attractive," Bo continued with her pursuit of Lauren's affections.

"Bo …" Lauren knew what it felt like to clutch and straws, she had felt a leap of hope at every muscle spasm while Nadia laid in a coma.

"I think you're beating yourself up over Nadia and you can't admit that you needed more than science and hope to keep you going. I think you're ashamed of being human, needing touch, affection, love."

Lauren couldn't bring herself to prey on Bo's vulnerability. If her pheromone treatment hadn't worked and Bo's feelings were genuine, she had nurtured affection and responded to it believing both of them would be able to shed the artificial relationship without scars. In her arms was a scarred Succubus. She was responsible for Bo's pain and while conscious of the fragility of her position, she wasn't willing to let Bo have false hope.

"The only feelings I'm in touch with at the moment is the basic desire to survive or more correctly avoid capture and a horrible death. Everything else died with Nadia."

Bo didn't reply.

Lauren's fingers stroked through the dark, silky hair, the dampness of Bo's silent tears sticky against her breast. Returning to their quarrel and the aftermath of censure, she picked the bones out of what the others had been saying. At the time, she was too angry to listen, a lot of their criticism was reminiscent of the past but underneath it all, there was a kernel of wisdom.

Bo had been sent back for a reason. Trick seemed to feel there was a potential for the darkness to grow in Bo and take her completely. She found her arms gathering up Bo a little more securely. If the darkness took Bo, Kenzi and Vex's comments had weight. They needed Bo for their own safety and pushing Bo towards the dark with her rejection wasn't of benefit to anyone. Another deceit, however, would be unconscionable as well as dangerous. She felt honesty was the best course. She wouldn't be cruel or dismissive of Bo's feelings; while she was with the Succubus she would try and guide her. Lauren's survival plan demanded escape; Bo's emotional attachment indicated she wouldn't allow that, too concerned that she would be at risk.

Bo wasn't an evil person. She was sometimes self-centred and myopic to the pain she caused others but generally speaking she tried to do her best and help people. Lauren knew Bo was guilty about her past, the deaths that lay in her wake as her immature, untrained Succubus took victims. To assuage that she had taken to protecting lives and fighting for the little guy, in the Fae world this was certainly a novelty as was being unallligned.

In truth Bo's remorse was much like her own, they were both making reparations to the past. She had been in a pool of sharks when her academic brilliance had been utilized by a drug company. A drug that made millions had an underlying flaw. Bringing this to her superior's attention had catapulted her into a world of intrigue. She had been ostracised, vilified and could never work in research again under her own name. To escape that she had joined Doctors Without Frontiers and spent her time in war zones or plague spots. Later she discovered that her conclusions about the drug she had brought attention to had caused deformities in children. Feeling she hadn't shouted loud enough, she used the money she got from her various enterprises to help families in areas where compensation didn't reach. It had seemed poetic that most of the money she siphoned from Ash Pharmaceuticals had gone to disabled children considering the Fae fed off humans, it was time they gave something back.

The similarities continued, they had both used aliases, Bo to escape detection, Lauren to protect her identity. Lauren Lewis was a name of a doctor she worked with in the Congo. The woman had died in an accident. She had taken her name when she realised what was going on with the Fae. She'd had to be quick on her feet to keep her own identity out there to run back to when she escaped. At the time she hadn't realised the range of skills the Fae had when it came to detection.

The Fae had called her The Human Doctor, her colleagues called her Lauren because she habitually used her middle name. Winters was exchanged for Lewis without causing any suspicion. The Karen Beattie profile had been one manufactured by the old Ash. If anyone queried her being taken into captivity after an escape, there it was, her Interpol wanted self justified any abduction. So H L Winters was a long forgotten disgraced academic, Lauren Lewis was a slave who was acquiring a glittering academic profile and Karen Beattie was still wanted for vague crimes in the name of science. She huffed at the ridiculousness of it all.

"Am I making you uncomfortable?" Bo's voice was sleepy. The intimacy and warmth in her tone suggested she had been lulled back into a time before their break. For one brief moment Lauren felt something like nostalgia.

"Shush, go back to sleep." Lauren continued the soft caress, the trickle of hair strangely soothing as it escaped her fingers. Rummaging about in her past brought its own unrest, at that moment in time, she too drew comfort from the closeness of their embrace.


	5. Chapter 5

Upside Down –5

The characters belong to Lost Girl Prodigy pictures, no money made, no infringement intended

X

"Awwww, sweet," Kenzi stood over the two sleeping women nursing a cup of coffee. "Seems a shame to wake them."

Vex scratched his jaw. "Don't then. First time Bo has been that quiet for weeks. All she needed was a Doc squishy. We could have saved ourselves a lot of grief if we'd known that."

Kenzi gave him a scathing look. "I did know that actually but finding one was a problem. My girl don't take comfort from lookalikes apart from the Succuface variety which is basically just like me getting a substandard pizza. I still eat it but I know I can get soooo much better."

"Maybe Bo should tell the Doc she's a luxury, feast of a pizza, might get her motor running." Vex grinned sharkishly. "I mean for a Succubus she's not making much headway in the nookie department."

Kenzi's eyes showed sadness as she regarded her friend, her body curved around the Doc, her face buried in Lauren's blond hair. "That's because she's looking for more than a roll in the hay. I gotta hand it to Lauren, she has a knack of turning Bo inside out, if there's a medal for fucking over a Succubus she's got gold. In fact I think this must be her fifth," she counted off on her fingers, "the spybang, Nadia, the break, then her disappearing act and now her chemistry experiment."

Vex got up and took the offered cup of coffee. "You think Bo would give up, wouldn't you? I mean here she is, an immortal sex machine and she's stuck on a human she can't even feed off without feeling guilty about it."

"Well, humans can pack quite a punch," Kenzi toasted him with her cup, "kinda remember when Lauren punched you in the jaw." Kenzi grinned enjoying the memory.

"I wasn't meself," Vex defended, "she took me by surprise."

Bo stirred, her arm tightening around Lauren.

"Oh-oh, early morning boner," Vex chimed as Bo proceeded to map out her sleeping companion. "Seems mutual," he sleazed as Lauren turned into her and mouths collided in a kiss.

Kenzi dragged him away to the dark recesses of the cave.

Lauren woke up to hear an English voice saying 'spoil sport,' and her tongue in a mouth that seemed very appreciative of her efforts. Pushing away, she regarded Bo with a disconcerted expression as the drowsy eyes protested the removal of her lips.

"Oh," the brunette's gaze sharpened, "my dream was so much better." Sitting up, she glanced around the cave.

Trick ran in and immediately the tension rose as sounds of feet came from behind him. "Run, they've got past the Troll. Follow me!"

Bo stood her ground. "Take Lauren and Kenzi. Vex and I will hold them off. We can't leave Tamsin here."

Trick gestured and Kenzi followed him immediately. Lauren kept to the back and as soon as the path divided she went down the opposite one to Trick and Kenzi.

"Time to try out the Wute." She stripped off her clothes while running further down the tunnel, leaving items in her wake and then ran back again after dropping her shoes. Naked she squirted a mixture of Fae scents on her body and then pressed back against the cave wall.

As she predicted Trick had managed to secrete himself and Kenzi somewhere and the following Fae that had got past Bo and Vex had reached a dead end and then came down the tunnel she was in. They ran past her shouting and then followed the trail of her clothes and went further into the tunnel their footsteps receding. A hungry roar suggested they had met up with something that wasn't very nice. So don't go that way, she thought.

Minutes later, Bo came running after a thuggish looking Fae. She saw Lauren's discarded shirt and tackled the guy with a snarl bringing him to his knees. The collision knocked the dagger out of her hand and it came to rest next to Lauren's feet.

The man gripped the Succubus's throat and squeezed, his strong hands holding her head back so she couldn't Chi suck him.

Where was Vex? Lauren peered down the tunnel but could only hear yells and thumps. The Fae was sweating trying to resist the pulses of pleasure Bo was directing into his biceps where her grip was failing as she was starved of air.

"Oh, dear," Lauren muttered, bending to pick up the knife. Handling it awkwardly, she tried to pick a spot that wouldn't do too much damage and jabbed the aggressor in the buttock.

He howled, let go of Bo and the next minute Bo was sucking the life out of him.

"Not good," Lauren decided, 'do no harm' exchanged for 'do the least harm possible.' Bo was always in a murderous rage if someone attacked her lover and talking her down wasn't an option. She poked her in the arm and watched her drop the man who was, by that time, an adoring slave.

Not seeing anything but having a bleeding arm as evidence, Bo did a wide sweep of her arms and caught a wriggling Lauren. In the blink of an eye she was holding a naked woman.

"Lauren?" Bo gasped, looking bewildered. "What happened? Where are your clothes?"

"I don't know." Lauren decided amnesia was the best policy.

"Were you hiding? Why didn't you go with the others?"

"I don't know." She affected a dazed expression.

Bo was already stripping off her jacket and shirt clothing her ex with the speed of someone that had forgone her Succubus for protective girlfriend. Taking her arm Bo followed the trail of clothes down the tunnel with a puzzled expression.

She picked up Lauren's shirt and inspected it. Nothing was torn, all the buttons were on. As she gathered up the Doctor's possessions, she glanced at Lauren questioningly.

"Whatever happened, you don't seem to have put up a fight."

"No," Lauren agreed, "I think that's my shoe," she pointed a bit further ahead.

"Did someone touch you? Did you see anything crawling about? It could be Underfae."

Lauren looked up at the roof of the tunnel apprehensively. "I heard something growl," she admitted, thinking it wouldn't do to go any further after retrieving her clothes. "But it sounded like it was coming from down there," she pointed.

Bo was absently stroking Lauren's arm as she stared into the gloom. Saving Bo's life made Lauren feel a little less conflicted. She could have let the Fae kill Bo and not risk capture but that was not an option. She was a doctor and took that very seriously and Bo had protected her on a number of occasions, any decent person would want to repay that.

"Have we got everything?" Bo picked up her second shoe.

They had retrieved all but Lauren's panties. The Doctor wondered if the Underfae in the tunnel had a souvenir.

"We better go back. I want to check you for bites or some kind of sting. Something must have sedated you."

Lauren accepted the wisdom of this. She assumed her transformation back into human form had been so quick, Bo had concluded she was hidden in the shadows. A tinkle of metal occurred as the Succubus's toe hit Bo's dagger. She bent down to retrieve it.

"Did you …?" The Succubus made a poking gesture with the knife.

"I thought he was going to kill you." Lauren followed Bo's glance at her bleeding shoulder. "I thought you were going to kill him," was offered in answer to Bo's unspoken question. "I knew you wouldn't want to."

The attacking Fae was stood dopily waiting for Bo to come back. She grabbed the back of his neck and took enough to repair the wound. Glancing at the wound on his ass, she raised an eyebrow. "Bad luck."

"It'll be all right. It's not deep enough to do any damage to the muscles or sciatic nerve. He just won't be able to sit comfortably for a while."

"I'm flattered you care whether I live or die," Bo's tone revealed her on-going resentment of their situation. "And thanks for not stabbing me in the ass."

Lauren half smiled. "You're welcome."

"I can't figure out why I still consider you so very, very cute," Bo ground out.

"I must be your type," Lauren offered helpfully, "you seem to like blondes."

The Succubus gave her a sideways look. "I've never had a particular preference, well, not in the past. Not until I met you."

Vex appeared in the tunnel and looked relieved. "Trick was worried. He thought Lauren had gone down the tunnel with the Underfae in it." He gave Lauren a look as she came into the light, wearing Bo's shirt which just about covered her upper thighs.

"Is it a girl thing, swapping clothes?" he asked, glancing at the bundle in Bo's arms.

"Something stripped her and she can't remember what it was. I'm going to check her to see if anything punctured the skin."

"I've never tried that line before. I wonder if it would work in the club. Of course, I can make people strip but the puncture wound angle is new."

"Shut up, Vex," Bo snapped and followed him into their temporary home, instructing the Fae captive to go back down the tunnel towards the Dal.

"Should we stay here?" Lauren asked, her eyes following the Fae's departure.

"Troll's back on duty," Kenzi informed them, "there was a bit of Shrek love going on, they sent in a lady Troll and he left his post. Trick booted his ass and told him to get back to work."

The thought of the diminutive bartender chastising a Troll made Lauren's mouth quirk in a smile but then Bo waved her into one of the smaller caves and her mouth went dry and her hands became clammy.

"Bit of a role reversal, me, examining you," Bo mocked her, a hand gesture inviting her to remove the shirt.

"I can't feel any sore or raised patches," Lauren offered, her tone husky.

"Shy, Lauren? If you can't remember what happened then something influenced you. I need to know whether it's something we need to treat."

Realising refusal would make Bo suspicious, she unbuttoned the shirt, avoiding Bo's gaze and slipped it off her shoulders. It wasn't as if being naked in front of Bo was a novelty but since the truth of their relationship had been revealed, she couldn't hide behind her artifice any more. Her skin prickled with anticipation. She felt sure Bo must be sensing signs of arousal.

"Lift your hair up." Bo's body heat warmed the blonde's back.

Lauren obeyed the best she could but several strands escaped and she felt Bo's fingers brush them away as she inspected her nape and neck. She shivered as Bo's touch seemed to find all her sensitive places. It's not as if she hadn't enjoyed sex with Bo, they had learnt each others bodies, it seems Bo was showing her what she was missing.

"Looks okay." Spanning her hands across Lauren's shoulder Bo ran the pads of her fingers over the ridge of bone and down, paralleling her spine. She smiled as small, golden hairs stood to attention. "The first time you examined me, you touched me like this. Then you gave me that goofy explanation saying you were checking for marks and ritual scarring."

"I was," Lauren protested.

"This isn't clinical, Doctor. You'd get struck off in human practice" Bo cupped her ass and moved her hands exploring the globes and sweeping out around to her sides. Stroking her hips, Bo took a moment before dropping to her knees and studying the back of the blonde's thighs.

"I wasn't in a human practice. I'd hardly be checking humans to see what genus and species they were." Lauren bit her lip. She could feel Bo's breath against her ass. Soft, feathery touches made her ache and she tried hard to stay still and not just turn around and drag Bo by the hair to relieve the maddening itch.

"Widen your stance." Bo's voice was like honey. It didn't take much to guess what a Succubus would be thinking.

Lauren stifled a gasp at the touch against her inner thighs. Her legs quivered. The submission to Bo's teasing touch began to frustrate her. She was allowing this to humour the Succubus when inside the drive was building to subdue and dominate.

"Your aura is going wild," Bo teased sounding pleased with herself.

She was barely conscious of movement. Knocking the Succubus onto her back, she pinned her wrists with a growl and swooped on her exposed throat. The growling continued, augmented by nips at the creamy skin. Her teeth threatened against the beating pulse, scenting the blood coursing through the Succubus but not breaking skin.

Bo's eyes flashed blue and she pulsed energy, feeling it heat her whole body. The nips turned to licks and kisses, the growl to a humming purr. Bo pulled her wrists free and grabbed a handful of blonde hair taking a long draught of Chi.

She stared into golden eyes, warm with sexual hunger. "What the hell have you done to yourself?" She used her thumb to push back Lauren's upper lip, seeing the extended canine before her thumb was sucked into a hungry mouth and licked as if it were a great delicacy.

"Fuck! You've injected yourself with Fae juice, haven't you? You weren't a frickin wolf when you were hiding in that tunnel. I couldn't see you. Dyson had his little Fae tricks but he never disappeared on me. You weren't planning to hole up in that penthouse, were you? You were waiting to learn control. Your Chi tastes different and your scent has changed."

Lauren was preoccupied kissing her palm and drawing circles on her palm with her tongue.

"Shit!" Bo held onto her control. Grabbing at Lauren's clothes she had a wrestling match to get them on. She couldn't believe she was dressing Lauren for the second time that day.

Lauren had other ideas and was unbuttoning her shirt as fast as Bo could fasten it.

"Stop it. Leave that on! Kenzi!"

Kenzi came on command, a hand shielding her eyes. "If there are unclothed body parts, please put them away."

"I'm trying to put them away. You have to help me."

"Whut?" Kenzi saw Bo struggling comically to keep Lauren dressed.

"Surely, a naked Lauren, is your Succubus dream."

"Just button up her shirt while I hold her arms."

"I can't help thinking I've been sucked into a mirror universe."

"Kenzi, she's taken Fae DNA, I'm not sure of what kind, two at least. We have to keep this quiet. She's already wanted by the Dark, I'm not sure how Trick would respond, he's pretty squirrely about Fae stuff."

"That doesn't explain why you're putting away her lady parts."

"She jumped me. I had to zap her with Succubus love. I'm not thralling Lauren into having sex with me."

Kenzi began to fasten Lauren's shirt as the blonde's head lolled against Bo's shoulder and she gave Bo an extravagant hickey while the Succubus gritted her teeth and held her firmly.

"You can be my mate," Lauren declared huskily. "I haven't got one and I think you're beautiful."

"Just try and control the wolf and come back, Lauren," Bo pleaded.

"She's got a wolf. Shit, only you could end up with two mates for life."

"I really don't think that's funny, Kenzi." Bo was scraping the bottom of the barrel for patience.

"It's funny to everyone that isn't you," Kenzi qualified. "Where's her pants?" Kenzi reared back as an attempt to put pants on revealed more of Lauren than she cared to see. "I've got a vag saying hi. Where's her panties."

"I don't know, Kenzi, she's lost them. Just make her decent."

"I don't care who you tango with Bo, that's your life choice but I don't see why I keep getting a front row show. When we get out of this, I want walls, doors and locks and Lauren with a lifetime supply of underwear."

"I want walls, doors and locks with Lauren happy to be in the same room. Looks like both of our wish lists have turned to shit."

"Just the usual then," Kenzi snarked.

The laboured scrape of feet announced Tamsin's presence. Holding her chest, she looked in. Seeing Kenzi fiddling with Lauren's zip and Bo holding her firmly from behind, she sighed. Twin gazes looking like rabbits caught in the headlights returned hers. "I won't ask. But when you're finished playing with the Doctor, can someone get me some food. I'm trying to heal here."


	6. Chapter 6

Upside Down –6

The characters belong to Lost Girl Prodigy pictures, no money made, no infringement intended

X

"Why would your father send Tamsin back with you?" Lauren asked quietly. "Logic would suggest that he doesn't feel you've travelled far enough down a desired path to be useful to him. If he feels this is due to your emotional affinities in this realm, why would he send someone that essentially doesn't belong here with you?"

"Maybe he hopes she'll see the error of her ways and be a better Valkyrie," Bo responded not sounding like she cared very much.

Digesting this, Lauren rose up onto an elbow and looked down at a prone Bo lying beside her on bedding the Succubus had hauled into the smaller cave. Bo had made a play of wanting some 'alone time' but in reality she was giving Lauren time to come back to herself. "A better Valkyrie would mean she took you back to your father fit for purpose … whatever that is."

Closing her eyes, Bo sighed heavily. "I'm just getting used to my ex turning into a Wolf-Yute. I think I can leave Tamsin on the back burner for tonight."

Lauren didn't like to worry Bo further with the knowledge that a Wolf-Yute merely scratched the surface of her genetic tinkering. "Technically speaking, I'm not sure I can be both at the same time … although the combination would be interesting."

A flicker of blue flashed between Bo's half closed lashes.

The doctor wondered if Bo, who must undoubtedly have been Prom Queen material, secretly hankered after being one of the smart girls. "When did you first develop the fetish around scientific observation? It never fails to get a response."

Bo groaned and put an arm over her eyes. "I'm really tired, will you stop nerding otherwise I'm going to go help the Troll again and leave you here with your newly acquired party tricks on show."

Regarding the Succubus, Lauren pressed her lips together to stop her thoughts gaining voice. Too much time alone meant she had talked herself through various observations and procedures just to break the silence. The odd little community inhabiting the caves she had begun to find strangely comforting with one notable exception. Bo was still begrudgingly protecting her and where Bo went others followed especially Kenzi. It reinforced the fact that outside of her penthouse, until her rogue DNA settled, this was the safest she could be.

It was cold in the caves and she shivered. Moving a little closer to Bo's radiating warmth, she wondered if the transformations had affected her metabolism in the aftermath.

"Bo?"

"What!" It was almost a snarl.

"I'm cold. Not a normal feeling of chill but that kind of cold when you're body has been losing heat for hours."

Bo showed her limited education hadn't robbed her of the skill of parody. "I'm kinda horny. Not normal horny but the kinda horny when you've seen you're lover naked twice, they've groped you and bitten your neck and now want to snuggle."

Something that sounded like a hiccup of laughter stirred the brunette's wrath. She turned and half sat up glowering.

"I feel a bit that way too. I'm not sure what any of this …," she lowered her voice to a whisper, "Faeness demands. I mean how do I power up, like you do? Wolfshifters tend to be warriors, so battle, the hunt or protecting others from harm provide their sustenance whereas a Yute is designated as a messenger. Most species have a need for sex so feeling aroused could be totally unrelated and just part of a disparate number of healthy appetites."

"Well, I sure as hell don't want to fuck a Wute," Bo whispered back, "I'm not humping a straw pallet when you play the invisible woman."

They both started to giggle.

"I just panicked, Bo," Lauren admitted, laughter filtering between the words, "I didn't know what to do. How else could I live …." Her laughter faded and the Succubus pulled her into her arms, rubbing her back to alleviate the shivers.

"Seems like your big brain has always got you into trouble," Bo commented, trying not to breathe in the blonde's scent. She fought the instinct to wrap her arms around Lauren's skull as if she was its protector rather than its victim.

"It's going to get you into trouble if you don't hand me over or let me go," Lauren pointed out, the offered warmth taken gratefully as she buried into Bo. "You're Unalligned, I'm the Fae's most wanted …"

"Not to mention our little cadre of the Morrigan's most detested people," Bo offered speech, in the vague hope the lava coursing through her veins would cool through distraction. She gazed at Lauren in fear that she'd see the fuzzy stuff and it was having an effect but no just that steady burn with little explosions from the corona.

"I think sex might be a good idea," Lauren offered in a very matter of fact tone to Bo's fevered mind. "It's possible if you feed off me, the …er party tricks may reduce for a while."

Bo was up and looking down at her with a fixed gaze. Under severe threat of crumbling she tried to think of every turn off known to man and Fae.

"It might stabilize me," Lauren offered as a rather glazed Succubus appeared to be in a fierce internal struggle.

"You could still be thralled or it could be that pheromone thing," Bo's voice sounded as if she'd been chain smoking.

"I think we've both concluded my pheromone experiment was not my finest hour," Lauren admitted. Her cool, cultured tone belied by the sexy invitation in her sherry coloured eyes. "It's not going to go away, Bo, if you can accept this as an act of mutual benefit then neither of us can lose by it."

"You were never just appetite, Lauren." With a Herculean effort Bo hoisted herself to her feet. Striding out of the cave into the lager aperture, she pulled a blanket off Vex and threw it back at the blonde.

"Oy!" Vex protested.

"You're supposed to be keeping watch. I'm going to check on the Troll." Bo hated the necessity of her appetite. She wanted to stay with Lauren but she had no idea what the changes the Fae DNA was causing and she'd despise herself for eternity if she took advantage of the situation. Her emotional upheaval made her want to skewer Vex for whining.

"I'll get more blankets," Trick offered hastily, roused by the noise.

Lauren tucked the blanket around her glad of the additional warmth but still craving for the Succubus. "Maybe I was wrong," she fell back into voicing her observations albeit at a whisper. "A Succubus denying her appetite is rare." A host of conflicting emotions battered the shield of her mind. Logic reasserted itself. "She is, of course, going to satisfy it elsewhere."

X

Tamsin felt the dark cloud descend. She took a deep breath as her head was submerged in an empty, airless vacuum. Her eyes flickered as a shape formed and dissolved.

"Progress?"

"I'm healing nicely, thank you."

Her throat was seized in a vicelike grip.

"She's still struggling," Tamsin gasped when the pressure relaxed. As far as she could see the Doc had the whip hand but she wasn't going to put that in her report. "There's a way to go yet."

A furious roar filled her head before she sat up, desperate for air. She found herself supported by an arm around her shoulders and a soothing voice penetrating the clamour in her ears.

"It's okay. Just breathe easily, don't gulp air, just gently take it in and out. This will help," Lauren offered her a small tumbler.

"What is it?" she croaked, seeing the others minus the Succubus gathered round.

"It's a muscle relaxant. You're oesophageal muscles went into spasm. It's not uncommon in situations of stress and the additonal strain of your injury upon your system. It will stop it happening again."

Trick nodded in encouragement, his eyes wide mirroring everyone else in the room beside the Doctor who looked commendably calm.

A cool customer, the Valkyrie acknowledged, except when the Succubus accepted kisses, kisses that weren't feeding. She had seen a chink then. That slap had passion behind it. _ What are you hiding human? _ How can you stand in the path of destiny?

"Any better?"

"Peachy." Gratitude was not one of the Valkyrie's strong points. "I thought you'd enjoy watching me choke, Doc."

Lauren looked surprised. "I don't take pleasure from the suffering of others, why would you assume that?"

"I kissed your girlfriend. I saw hate flash in your eyes." Hate? Anger? What the hell, there'd been something.

Lauren stonewalled her. She was vaguely bemused by the memory of that slap. "A family connection would make you unacceptable to Bo in a sexual sense. She holds human values regarding incest."

"Truly Fae, truly her father's daughter, none of that would matter," the Valkyrie watched Lauren with hawk-like attention. "It's all fuel to a Succubus."

"Then she wouldn't be Bo," Lauren asserted with the sort of simple refutation that made Tamsin's teeth grind together.

"And she scores!" Kenzi applauded doing a little victory dance around the cave in support of Lauren's humankind supremacy.

Tamsin could almost hear the portal closing slowly inch by inch. Not that she would mind being a realm away from Daddy but she'd be stuck with this motley bunch of lunatics with two fucking humans pulling Queen Bo's strings.

Groaning, she sank back on her bed. "Anyone got anything to drink? And I'm not talking cocoa."

"Spring the hooch, Trickster," Kenzi discovered common ground as sounds of Bo's victims echoed faintly. "We've got a Troll and a Succubus that way, a UnderFae down there not to mention the secret hidey hole, I think we can have a little time for refreshment."

"Yeah, break out the booze, old man," Vex applauded the idea, "it's not as if alcohol spoils my performance, I just make people fall over in a more amusing manner." He snickered at his own joke.

Lauren didn't raise a protest. She was preoccupied by a new set of permutations that were heading towards a conclusion she was reluctant to acknowledge.

"You okay, Doc?" Kenzi brought her a glass of tequila after Trick had reluctantly provided a bottle. "Kinda neat hearing you stick up for Bo. Kinda cute you both still take care of each other the way you do. You could have run but you protected her against that Fae who tried to strangle her. It's what I say. She may not have had all the deets but we're still her peeps! We've got her back. We know she's no demon freak, she's our Bo and we have to keep reminding her so that His Royal Darkness doesn't get a grip."

Looking haunted, Lauren slugged back the tequila. She winced as it hit the back of her throat. The raw spirit linked memories and she sighed softly. Something was hidden! She saw two seeds float to earth. Both grew until they became intertwined, one indistinguishable from the other. "We have to think outside the box."

Seeing her expression, Vex came and hung an arm around her shoulder. "Do you get it yet, Doc? Do you get it because I'm fucked if I do? What's the plan? We have to have a plan, just like with the Garuda." He laughed idiotically to himself. "We'll all play out part but you'll work it out; you and the Succubus, I know you will," his unshaven cheek rubbed against hers, "because you're speshhhhul."

X

Deep in the bowels of the tunnels, a perspex shield and the hum of machinery protected and gave succour to a sleeping Fae. A large UnderFae guarded the doorway. The sleeping form twitched and consciousness surfaced slowly but a dark cave was not the vision within. Freed from useless limbs, the lightness of spirit allowed him to walk a familiar path.

"We gave you a gift and you squandered it." A flare of a torch showed a swaddled babe emerging from a womb shaped hole in an ancient tree.

The old Ash's lashes flickered. He walked forward into a circle surrounded by towering trees, grey fissured bark, silver in the moonlight.

"Do you wish to make amends for your actions?"

"Yesss," a thin sound emitted from stiff lips.

"Your territories are forfeit. A brave youth took your place but a sapling is too green in bud to face The Morrigan. Power hungry and vain she is keeping the portal open to a realm darker than the worst ambitions of her soul."

"I will … close … it."

"That task does not fall to you but you must clear the path. Go back to your people, give them a voice. Join forces with the Blood King. Order must come back to the County or the battle of centuries will need to be fought once more. Wood can nurture the flame but fire must not be allowed to destroy the forest. "


	7. Chapter 7

UPSIDE DOWN – 7

These characters belong to Prodigy Pictures, no infringement intended, no money made.

X

Bo came back to the cave without her usual spark. Trick gave her a long look and Kenzi articulated what they were all thinking.

"Crap chi? Can't win them all, sweet cheeks."

"Catch up, pin brain, it's because it's not Lauren and it makes her saaaad," Tamsin drawled mockingly.

Turning slowly the Succubus focussed on Tamsin and walked stealthily in her direction.

Vex gave them both an assessing look and decided to intervene. "Now, girls, don't take this the wrong way," he extended his arms keeping them both out of striking distance, "a mud bath, clothes optional, I'm all for it, I'd sell tickets but here's the thing. Where is Lauren?"

Bo's attention shifted. "What!"

"Well, I haven't seen her since she helped the Valkyrie with the choking fit. I didn't see her go either."

Kenzi moved to the smaller cave and peeked in warily. "Bo, I think there's something you should see."

Released by the Mesmer Bo hurried to Kenzi's side. There in the cave, decidedly empty of Lauren, was something that looked like an oil spill. Bo put her arms out to bar the way as the others rushed to look.

"Careful," she whispered, "just Kenzi please, the rest of you search the tunnels. Oh," she pointed at the one that held the Underfae, "best to be careful in that one."

"Duly noted. What are you going to do, there's nothing in there. She's gone, Succubus," Vex stressed leaning forward.

"Just go!" Bo's eyes flashed and he backed off.

"Okay, no need to get tetchy. I was just saying …" Vex drifted away with the others.

"What are you thinking?" Kenzi whispered, searching the shadowed walls.

"What if that's her, Kenzi?" Bo peered at the fluid, searching for any sign of life.

"I'm no Doctor," Kenzi snarked, "but if she did that, she needs anti-b's, that's some serious pee pee."

"Kenzi! Look, there's a small rodent or something in the middle. It's digesting it."

"Oh, gross!" Kenzi mocked barfed. "You can't be serious, Bo. Wolf and disappearing thingy I can understand but what in the Goddess's name would make her choose to turn into The Blob."

A small tendril slithered towards the fluid, in one second it and the dissolving carcass disappeared in a hiss.

"Double Gross. Wrong movie, it's the Little Shop of Horrors, ruuuuuuun!"

Bo and Kenzi pulled up sharply as a figure barred their way.

"Why the charming Succubus and her annoying pet. Still alive? You must be more resilient than you first appeared.

Bo and Kenzi stared in horror.

"You!" The Succubus articulated.

"The first Ash-hole," Kenzi whispered. "You're the creepy plant sucky thing."

A rich, deep chuckle rang incongruently throughout the cave. "I thought you'd be pleased to see me. The Morrigan has taken liberties in my absence."

"What have you done with Lauren!" Bo demanded. "Where is she?"

"You keep losing her," The Ash smiled with a strange mixture of wistfulness and regret, "at least I managed to keep her by my side. I take it she has started to manifest fluidity of form."

Regarding him suspiciously Bo took a step forward. "What the hell do you know? Have you been hiding in these caves? Does Trick know?"

"So many questions Little Succubus. All in good time. First I think we should return to The Dal. Clear the Dark Fae scum out of the caves and the tavern."

Footsteps forewarned the return of their companions.

"Bloody hell," came from Vex.

"This just gets better and better," from Tamsin.

"Ash." Trick gave a small bow. "I see the Ydrassgil have chosen to return you to us. The Light await you."

Bo did a double take as The Ash began a slow walk towards the Dark Fae blocking their route to The Dal. "You're okay with this?" She caught his arm. "What about Lauren?"

"She'll return to you," he predicted calmly.

"What do you mean return. If she gets out of the caves she'll just keep running."

"She'll return," Trick was confident. "She can't leave, Bo. She can never leave the Fae."

X

Bo slept in a bed for the first time in days. She had watched with trepidation as The Ash approached the last bastion of defence, the Troll. Her jaw had dropped when the Dark Fae invaders melted away like snow in a furnace.

"I expect it's a bit of a relief from getting their arses kicked by a Troll and a Succubus," Vex offered. "The Ash is a big boy and that's down to The Morrigan to sort. I bet Barnacle Goose is getting a thrashing. Remember the Garuda, she ran away like a little girl."

Daggers from the assembled womandom made him snicker and then bow. "Unlike some of us here who were big, strong girls, an example to their kind."

"Stow it member," Tamsin grated.

"You weren't there and that's Mesmer to you," Vex goaded, in her face.

"I know a member when I see one." Tamsin didn't give an inch.

"I'm sure I'll find it fascinating to hear how we have acquired two Dark," The Ash purred. "But before that bartender, I wish to speak to you on a matter of importance."

Trick nodded his head, putting up his hand as Bo would have followed. "Rest, Bo," Trick advised, "have a drink, eat some food, there'll be time to talk later."

Bo pretended to take his advice. She dragged Kenzi with her down into the caves and spent several hours searching the warren of tunnels, shouting for Lauren to return to her. Responding to Kenzi's weariness, she had to acknowledge if Lauren wanted to manifest her presence, she had been given plenty of opportunity. Disheartened, she returned to The Dal and shared a meal and several drinks with the others before retiring to bed. It spoke to her discontent that she didn't grill Trick about the Ash's intentions.

What she didn't expect when she was settling into a dream about warm, silky skin and soft golden hair was for something heavy to hit the bed and shoot her a foot in the air to fall back into the covers while the mattress slapped her about in after shock.

"What the fuckkk!"

"Shushhhh," a voice urgently beseeched her. "Shushhhh. I'm sorry I was guarding you and I must have lost concentration and I fell off the ceiling."

"Lauren!" Bo sat up when the bed stabilized and looked at her, her eyes a storm of confusion. "Wait? What? You were up there?" She pointed upwards.

Lauren nodded and then looked sheepish. "I know that sounded weird but the Wute is kinda cool. When I saw The Ash, I hid. I guess it's my fault he's still alive, Trick must have stored him in the caves when The Morrigan took over. What does he want?"

Bo just stared. "What were you doing up there?" She hadn't moved past Lauren's temporary defiance of gravity. "You can't just do that if you haven't got control of your powers. You could hurt yourself."

Grinning, Lauren rolled her eyes. "I was above a bed, Bo."

"How do you do that? Has the Wute got suckers on its hands or something?" Her mind boggled with the idea of Lauren turning into a lizard.

"Technically they're feet. I've seen drawings of Wutes and they're a bit like a large chameleon. You can't see it though because I merge into the background."

Bo just stared at her. "Lauren, a few weeks ago, you were a regular human being. Doesn't any of this freak you out? It's freaking me out and you're my ex-girlfriend that dumped my ass. There was a brief moment when I wished all the curses of the universe on you but I … I don't want to think of you turning into something green and slimy!"

Lauren's eyes danced with merriment. "This is my dominant form, I have to work on the change, either that or fear and … well other things motivate the transformation. Hormonal responses," she said thoughtfully, "which would make sense because …"

"Lauren!" Bo's _hormonal_ responses had started to kick in. Clothes were clearly a handicap to a chameleon because Lauren was once again naked as a jay bird. Lifting up the covers, she urged the blonde under the covers. "Why didn't you just run? Why come here?"

Appreciating the warmth, Lauren buried under the covers her eyes and tufts of hair visible. "I followed The Ash. I didn't know what he intended. I was worried he might blame you for what your mother did. I mean, she blew up the compound and that's when The Ash was grievously injured. He seems to be willing to join up with Trick to re-establish Light/Dark boundaries but I was still worried he might take vengeance on you, so I came in here to watch over you."

Emotion laden eyes returned the bright gaze. "He might stop the Morrigan killing you Lauren but he's not going to let you go free. It's not safe for you here. I'll get you some clothes, we'll go back to the tunnels and I'll help you find a way out."

Puzzlement darkened the blonde's gaze. "That doesn't seem quite as important as it did before. Why do you want me to leave? I thought you wanted me to stay."

Bo sat cross legged on the bed facing her. She fiddled with the cover, heat colouring her cheeks. "I had the crazy idea because you said you liked me and you clearly …," she waved at the halo surrounding Lauren, "anyway, I thought you might come to see me as something other than a Succubus." She put up a hand as Lauren's mouth formed a protest. "I know I am a Succubus and I'm probably a poor bet for best girlfriend of the year but even if you can't feel the same way as I do, I wanted you to know that my feelings aren't all about what sort of Fae I am. I genuinely have deep feelings for who I thought you were and those feelings won't allow me to stand by and see you get yourself into trouble."

Lauren gave her a small smile. "You're a well-intentioned person. I appreciate you trying to help me."

Swallowing, Bo's voice was thick with tension. "Did I stink at being a girlfriend all the time or were there, I don't know, things that stood out."

Lauren sat up against the headboard pulling the quilt around her. "You mean beside the ex-lover, prospective lover and the feeds?"

It sounded really crap when Lauren put it like that. Gritting her teeth, Bo nodded.

"Well, in your defence, it was all rather hectic but we never really did anything nice. I mean, I'm not talking champagne suppers but if you're trying to woo someone Bo, it might help if you were a little more into some form of courtship."

"I see. What sort of things do you like to do? I mean, just to give an example," Bo added hurriedly.

Lauren looked wistful. "When Nadia and I first got together, we went for a walk in the park after a pretty heavy all nighter …" She looked at Bo's bruised expression, "I'm sorry, I didn't meant to …"

"No, go on, I obviously need some pointers." Bo's half laugh wasn't very convincing.

"Well," Lauren shrugged, "we ended up in this coffee shop that was open for early morning traders. It was lively and vibrant, just after dawn it felt surreal and we had coffee and pancakes and it became kind of a thing."

"Didn't you just want to stay in bed," Bo asked puzzled.

Lauren opened her mouth and then closed it again.

"I mean, I could go out and get you breakfast and you can have that in bed if you'd like."

The blonde had the expression on her face that told Bo she was trying to reformulate an equation for a particularly slow student.

"What? What don't I get? I can be romantic. I would die for you. I mean that's right up there, isn't it?"

Pushing her lips out Lauren considered Bo's question. "That certainly shows a level of heroism, yes but then there's quite a lot of people you'd die for so it doesn't exactly smack of exclusivity."

"You want me to yourself," Bo pounced on that particular solution to the conundrum. "We could try that again, I mean with all that jumble of Fae DNA, who knows. It could work."

"Bo, that's not what I'm saying, relationships are more than bed and dying for each other. I'm talking about moments that create a unique bond, little things people share that make a universe of 'us,' two people with memories and moments that are special to them."

Bo got up and began to walk around the room, clearly agitated. "If you had that with Nadia, why did you still want me? She was right there and the heat was coming off you in waves but you weren't looking at her, you were looking at me and that was nothing to do with my Succubus tricks. I was trying to accept you were with her."

Lauren slid out of the bed and the stricken look on her face made Bo hasten to apologize but in a blink of an eye the blonde was gone.

"Oh, no, please don't do this. I'm sorry." She waved her arms about in front of her, trying to search the room. "Please come back. I was totally out of line. I shouldn't have said that. Please Lauren, come back. You'll get cold," she pleaded rather desperately.

"What's up, Bo-bo?"Woken up by Bo's emotional pleas Kenzi opened the door and peered in looking half awake. "Why are you stood on that chair waving your arms in the air?"

"Lauren was here and I've upset her. That Wute thing can climb walls as well as disappearing. Shut the door!" Bo hissed distantly aware her life had entered a new era of madness. "She'll get out!"

X

Stood by the door, Kenzi had her eyes closed and held out a robe. She had to be the best friend in all of the universe because she was trying to coax a naked Wute into a robe while Bo stood outside brooding over being the world's worst person ... a step down from the world's worst girlfriend.

"Laurie-laurie-loo where are you?" she coaxed. "Come and get warm. Bo feels worse than shit if that's any help."

She felt movement and kept her eyes closed until the gown was taken and gave it a moment for Lauren to wrap it around her.

"Wow!" Kenzie was taken aback at the trouble written across Lauren's features.

"You know Bo is just one emotional klutz, she doesn't mean to hurt you."

Lauren made a negating movement with her head. "Where is she. I need to talk to her."

"Okay, okay, calm down, she's just outside. I'll get her."

"Bo ...?" Lauren moved towards her as she came through the doorway.

"Oh, baby, I'm sorry are you okay?" Bo pulled Lauren into a comforting embrace which was surprisingly accepted.

Kenzi watched in a state of indecision. Things seemed to be going rather better than of late. She didn't want to mess it up for Bo but her BFF was fragile and she didn't want to leave her best girl if Lauren kicked her in the proverbial nads again.

"I shouldn't have said that about you and Nadia. You had a nice memory and I spoilt it with my stupid jealousy."

"No." Lauren put her hands up to frame Bo's face. "It's more than that. I can't remember how I met Nadia. I have that coffee memory, our first night but not meeting, not seeing and feeling that spark ..."

"You've been through a lot," Bo tried to comfort her, embracing her tightly, "it will come back. You haven't forgotten her, Lauren, I was wrong to try and challenge your feelings ..."

"Bo, you're not listening! It feels like a an album of someone else's snapshots. When Nadia awoke I tried to get back in touch with that past, I couldn't, I thought I was betraying her. I hated feeling so taken with you while she was with me. When I came to you, when I ran from Lachlan, being tied to that pod, day in day out watching, waiting, I'd lost hope. Nadia had started to drift away from me, it felt unreal ... Then Lachlan got me back by threatening Kenzi and threatening to switch off Nadia's life support and it all became real again. In my mind I was imprisoned but I'm not sure that happened. These snapshots, I think someone has put them here." She pointed to her head.

Concerned, Bo gently stroked a sheaf of hair back from Lauren's face. "Honey, this could just be that stuff you injected yourself with. I'm not a doctor, I don't know how to help you ..."

"It's all been a lie." She moved out of Bo's embrace, pushing her fingers through her hair. "I ran away to a penthouse suite, it was all waiting for me until you found me again. Why didn't I use that opportunity before? Why didn't I take Nadia there? I thought about running when she woke up but it never occurred to me to go there. Why? Don't you see, it's a game, with a set of pre-ordained options." A bright fever lit Lauren's eyes. "I can run in any direction I like but I can't get off the board. I can't escape the game!"


End file.
